§ Mr. Llewellynasked the Prime Minister whether he is aware of the lack of trade at Cardiff docks; what action the Government proposes in order to remedy the situation; and whether, as a first step, he will instruct Government Departments to direct more imports to Cardiff instead of continuing to allow them to proceed to already overcrowded docks, where a quick turn-round is not possible.
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§ The Prime MinisterI am not aware of any substantial falling off in the trade of the port of Cardiff in the last two or three years but there has been a loss of tonnage of export coal as compared with pre-war years. Some time ago my right hon. Friend the Minister of Transport drew the attention of Government Departments and others concerned to the recommendation of the Working Party on the Turn-round of Shipping that shipowners and major importers and exporters should consider the possibility of saving ships' time by the greater use of ports not working to full capacity. Government Departments, however, when arranging import programmes which they control, in as far as they are able to influence the ports utilised, must have regard to the areas and the populations economically served by those ports. In order to obtain an increased share of trade for a particular port, much depends on the initiative of the local trading and shipping interests.